Subphylum
Taxonomic rank
title: "Subphylum" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["subphyla", "biology-terminology", "zoological-nomenclature"] description: "Taxonomic rank" topic_path: "science/biology" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subphylum" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Taxonomic rank ::
In zoological nomenclature, a subphylum is a taxonomic rank below the rank of phylum.
The taxonomic rank of "subdivision" in fungi and plant taxonomy is equivalent to "subphylum" in zoological taxonomy. Some plant taxonomists have also used the rank of subphylum, for instance monocotyledons as a subphylum of phylum Angiospermae and vertebrates as a subphylum of phylum Chordata.
Taxonomic rank
Subphylum is:
- subordinate to the phylum
- superordinate to the infraphylum, which is in turn superordinate to parvphylum.
Where convenient, subphyla in turn can be divided into infraphyla; in turn such an infraphylum also would be superordinate to any classes or superclasses in the hierarchy.
Examples
Not all fauna phyla are divided into subphyla. Those that are include:
- Arthropoda: divided into subphyla Trilobitomorpha, Chelicerata, Myriapoda, and Pancrustacea
- Brachiopoda: divided into subphyla Linguliformea, Craniformea and Rhynchonelliformea
- Chordata: divided into Tunicata, Cephalochordata, and its largest subphylum Vertebrata
Examples of infraphyla include the Mycetozoa, the Gnathostomata and the Agnatha.
References
Bibliography
References
- Cavalier-Smith, Thomas. (2016-10-01). "Higher classification and phylogeny of Euglenozoa". European Journal of Protistology.
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